


got me feelin' like (pop rocks, strawberry, bubblegum)

by renjunethereal



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 10k of soft marknoren bullshit, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Minor Violence, Not Beta Read, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Werewolves, You Have Been Warned, markno are wholesome, renjun's an idiot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:15:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24582925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renjunethereal/pseuds/renjunethereal
Summary: Mark and Jeno are the perfect couple, and Renjun's trying to convince himself that he's happy watching from the sidelines.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno, Huang Ren Jun/Lee Jeno/Mark Lee, Huang Ren Jun/Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno/Mark Lee
Comments: 44
Kudos: 431
Collections: NCT OT3 Mood Board Fic Fest





	got me feelin' like (pop rocks, strawberry, bubblegum)

**Author's Note:**

> hello beautiful people I'm writing this to you 22 minutes before the deadline so I'll keep it short. Basically this was a hell of a bitch to write but I finally got there! The marknoren tag is very dry so I'm happy to offer 10k of sustenance, have fun!
> 
> Also if there's any mistakes please just look away sjbsjjsjs thanks!
> 
> TW: there's going to be a couple mentions of blood, attempted murder, cuts, so if you're sensitive to any of that please be aware

If you told Renjun four months ago that he’d one day be pining over his mated werewolf neighbours, he’d probably laugh in your face, and suck all the blood from your veins afterwards.

And yet, record scratch, freeze frame, here he is, lounging on said mated werewolf couple’s couch and trying to not look like he’s having a breakdown as Jeno silently feeds popcorn into Mark’s mouth.

Jeno and Mark make a great couple—Jeno balances out Mark’s ramblings with silent, caring gestures and fond smiles, and Mark makes sure to reciprocate by giving Jeno the world if he wants it. Together, they have enough physical and general adorableness to make the coldest of hearts melt—in this case: Renjun’s. And _that’s_ the problem.

Renjun _knows_ they’re the cutest couple in the world, that everyone on his floor knows about “the nice couple at the end of the hall”. Renjun _knows_ they’re quite literally tied together for life, if the matching bite marks on their necks are anything to go by. But that doesn’t stop his eyes from darting away from the movie they’re watching from time to time, catching glances of the two curled up together on the other side of the couch, Mark absentmindedly petting over the hair at the back of Jeno’s neck, and silently wishing he could do that too.

It’s not just Jeno, either. Renjun will watch Mark do— _anything_ , really, smile, laugh, say something stupid, and feel the sudden need to just kiss him, sometimes simply because of the urge and sometimes because Renjun really wants to punch him in the mouth. With his mouth. Yeah—it’s that bad.

So here Renjun is, pretending to watch some movie he doesn’t care about, nursing his glass of blood in one hand and slowly digging his nails deeper and deeper into his thigh with the other, internally scolding himself for getting into all of this.

“—Renjun? Are you listening?” Mark says, his voice snapping Renjun out of his reverie. The credits are rolling now, and both Jeno and Mark are looking at him expectantly.

“Y-yeah, what’s up?” Renjun says.

“We were wondering if you had any plans for next Friday, so we can do this again. You can even choose the movie this time!” Jeno says excitedly, eyes curving up into crescents. If he had a tail (which, to be fair, he occasionally does), it would be wagging like crazy.

“Please do, Jeno’s movie taste sucks.” Mark says, faking hurt as Jeno smacks him playfully.

“Of course, we don’t want to force you. It’s your decision.” Mark adds.

Renjun thinks this over for a moment. Spend another night of silent, woeful pining, watching Mark and Jeno cuddle in their stupidly cute matching pajamas and desperately wanting to join them?

But then he looks over at them again, at their wide, hopeful puppy eyes and oversized sweaters and the fluffy cinnamoroll patterned blanket collecting around their legs, and suddenly his mouth is moving before he can catch it.

“Sure.” He says.

. . .

Renjun remembers when he first met Mark and Jeno.

Finding a place to live as a vampire is hard if you don’t already own some picturesque castle that you sieged yourself in 1586, as most landlords will find it suspicious when you own zero cooking and eating utensils of any kind and are deathly pale all year round. Having to get regular shipments of blood packs off the black market and store them in your otherwise empty fridge doesn’t really scream “normal and nonthreatening human” either.

Luckily, Jaemin managed to hook him up with this apartment complex, saying that he and the owner go way back and that he doesn’t have to worry, and though Jaemin’s ideas have led him wrong many, _many_ times before, Renjun still feels inclined to believe him.

He’s carrying some precariously stacked moving boxes into the elevator when someone shouts “hold the door, please!”, Renjun just barely managing to hit the “open” button with his knee before the person dashes through the elevator doors.

He hears a sigh. “Thanks.”

Renjun smiles, even though the person probably can’t see him through the boxes. “No problem.”

A floor passes by in silence, before two hands come up to hold the top box, and Renjun finds himself face to face with a really, _really_ cute guy.

Renjun’s had his fair share of cute men in the past, some as lovers, some as just a midnight snack, but _this one_ —Renjun finds himself trying not to get lost in what Renjun can only describe as _puppy eyes_ , all big and dark and sparkly.

“Sorry, you just looked like you needed some help. A new tenant, I take it?” He transfers the box to one hand seamlessly, holding a hand out. As he moves, Renjun swears he sees his eyes twinkle. “I’m Mark.”

Renjun raises an eyebrow, pointedly shifting his gaze from Mark’s hand to his own very occupied ones, and Mark flushes red, hurriedly retracting his hand to lay limp at his side. Cute.

“Renjun,” he says finally. “And yeah, I just moved to 519.”

Mark’s eyes light up even more, if that’s even possible. “Oh! So _you’re_ the new neighbour! I live in 520.”

He’s pretty sure this is how most romcoms start, the two main leads meeting each other in a chance event before, wow, who would have thought! They live right across from each other!

The elevator dings, signalling their arrival, and Renjun tries not to swoon a little as Mark holds the door open for him, waiting for him to get out first.

“Thanks for the help.” Renjun says as he sets his boxes down near his door, patting his pockets for his keys.

“No problem!” Mark says. Renjun’s about to say something, maybe ask him if he’d like to hang out sometime, when Mark snaps his fingers. “Oh! You should meet my ma—uh, boyfriend too, he lives with me.”

Renjun barely has to process the word _boyfriend_ and the acute heartbreak that comes with it, before Mark’s opening the door to his own apartment. “Jeno? Come here, there’s someone I want you to meet.”

And _oh_. _My god_.

Renjun silently wonders if everyone in this complex are all unfairly attractive puppy-like men, because this is the second time he’s met one in the span of ten minutes. Jeno is classically handsome, maybe intimidatingly so, but all of that intimidation disappears the second he smiles, so bright and so wide that his eyes disappear into crescents.

“Oh! You must be the new neighbour! I’m Jeno.” Jeno holds out his free hand. Renjun takes it, and silently curses—firm grip has no business being that attractive. “We’re so happy to have you here.”

“Renjun,” he replies. “Wow, I didn’t know my arrival would be so...er, known about.”

Mark shrugs. “We don’t really get a lot of new people coming to this complex. 519’s been empty for _years_ , even before me and Jeno moved here.”

Renjun blinks. “Oh. Well, I hope I’m making a good impression then?”

Jeno smiles warmly, and Renjun can’t help but inhale a little sharply. If his heart was still beating, it would be going double time right now. “You’re making a great impression.”

“Thanks.” Renjun says simply, afraid that if he says more he’ll accidentally blurt out something stupid, like _what do I have to do to get in the middle of all this?_

Mark’s eyes do that light-up thing again, and Renjun has to blink, he’s so bright. “Why don’t you join us for lunch tomorrow? We can get to know each other better then.”

Jeno’s eyes light up excitedly too, and Renjun wonders just how much cuteness he’ll be subjected to today. “Please! We always have too many leftovers anyways, I’m sure there’s more than enough room for you.”

“Oh, I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to intrude…” Renjun tries, but then Jeno and Mark _really_ turn the puppy eyes on, all dark, sparkly eyes and fluffy hair and slightly pouty lips. If they had ears, they’d be folded back towards their heads, and that image alone makes Renjun’s defence break down.

“O-okay.” Renjun finds himself saying before he can stop himself, and Mark and Jeno whoop in excitement.

“We’ll see you tomorrow at noon then.” Mark says. His eyes widen comically, before he’s slipping through the threshold and disappearing into the apartment. “I have to go clean up! It’s a mess right now.”

Jeno’s chuckling, and Renjun finds himself laughing with him.

“I should go help him,” Jeno says, a soft yet fond smile on his face. It’s not even for him but Renjun finds himself feeling warm all over from it anyways. “I’ll see you later, Renjun. Welcome to the complex!”

Renjun’s waving goodbye to Jeno, about to go inside his own apartment when something catches his eye.

Jeno’s shirt collar moves just slightly as he moves to go back inside, but it’s enough to get a peek of the frankly giant bite mark on the junction between his neck and shoulder, a blooming bruise of brown and purple. If Renjun could blush, he would. Maybe they’re not as soft and fluffy as he thought.

Renjun doesn’t realize he just agreed to have a _meal_ in which you’re supposed to eat _food_ with _humans_ until after he closes the door.

_“Ah, fuck.”_

. . .

Renjun remembers standing in front of 520 with his fist raised to knock, telling himself that he can do this, that Mark and Jeno won’t suspect a thing, and that everything will be fine.

Everything was not fine.

“Hey!” Mark greets cheerily, looking way too pretty for someone just in an oversized hoodie and shorts. “Jeno’s just finishing up.”

“Cool,” Renjun says, trying to be nonchalant. Normal. But then Mark starts turning around, expecting Renjun to follow him like any regular human would, and suddenly being nonchalant and normal is a lot harder than it looks when you physically can’t enter anybody’s home without explicit consent. Renjun curses to himself—this is already going terribly, and it hasn’t even been five minutes yet.

Mark makes it almost entirely into the next room before he realizes that Renjun isn’t following him, his head craned backwards to look at Renjun with wide, confused eyes. God, he’s so cute. “Aren’t you coming in?”

 _Thank god_. Renjun breathes a sigh of relief. The phrase is a little vague, but it’s good enough. “Y-yeah. Sorry, I just spaced out a little.” He lies, stepping through the doorway with what little pride he has left.

Renjun doesn’t know what to focus on first—Jeno in a pink “I kiss better than I cook” apron, the plethora of potted plants scattered throughout the apartment (all with name tags on the pots, Renjun notices), the smell of udon and chicken wafting from the dining table. Renjun hasn’t eaten human food in well over a few decades now, but he can recognize good food when he sees it.

His gaze goes back to Jeno’s apron though, because it really has no reason to be as cute as it is. Jeno’s matching pink blush when he realizes what Renjun’s looking at doesn’t help his case either.

“I hope you’re hungry, because Jeno woke up early today just to prep for lunch.” Mark says, a shit-eating grin on his face. Jeno gets impossibly redder, the look now complete with a sulky pout. Renjun can’t help it—he has to coo. But only a little bit.

“Shut up.” Jeno huffs, smacking Mark on the arm playfully. He turns to face Renjun with a smile on his face though, his blush still there, but faint. “I really do hope you’re hungry though. I made too much.”

“Oh yeah! Starving.” Renjun says enthusiastically, as if the last time he ate human food he didn’t throw up mere minutes after swallowing. He wonders if Mark and Jeno can feel the guilt radiating off of him.

“Great! Let’s eat then.” Mark says, starting to walk towards the dining table and Renjun follows him, sitting across from him before he can think the better of it. Jeno’s the last to join them, distributing their meals before taking off his apron and setting it over his chair next to Mark, and Renjun tries his hardest not to stare at the way his biceps bulge slightly as he moves because _his boyfriend is right fucking there, you sick bastard._

Renjun focuses on the food he’s supposedly going to eat instead, and can’t help but smile. It’s simple—just udon, some vegetables, and a chicken cutlet, but it’s obvious that a lot of work was put into it. But then he remembers that he can’t fucking eat it and now he just feels bad all over again.

Mark and Jeno have already started eating, soft slurping sounds erupting from them from time to time, and Renjun resists the urge to chuckle. He looks down at his own udon instead, and tentatively grasps the chicken cutlet with his chopsticks.

It couldn’t be _that_ bad. Maybe he grew tolerance to it over the years—older vampires were said to be more powerful...

Renjun looks up, taking notice of the expectant glances they throw at him, definitely intended to be subtle but ending up the exact opposite. He looks back down at the cutlet, and shrugs. He takes a bite.

It tastes _ridiculously_ good, Renjun can’t tell if it’s because he literally hasn’t eaten chicken in three hundred years or if it’s just actually that good, but he doesn’t care, he just goes in for another bite. And another. And another. Huh, maybe this could all work out after all.

“Renjun? Are you okay in there?” Jeno calls softly from the other side of the door. He sounds worried, and that just makes Renjun feel even worse—well, as worse as someone who just threw up their lunch in their really cute neighbours’ bathroom can feel. At least it's over.

He releases the previously iron-clad grip he had on the toilet seat he’s hunched over, and sighs. On second thought, maybe it’d be better if he had more to throw up—maybe then he wouldn’t have to face Mark and Jeno outside. What does he even tell them? “Sorry, your delicious food that you spent the whole day making for me must have given me food poisoning. See you next Saturday”? “I threw up because I’m a vampire and my diet consists only of blood, particularly human blood, so don’t sweat it”?

“Renjun? Are you okay? Do you want me to come in?” Mark pipes up this time, and Renjun can almost _feel_ the guilt that washes over him at the sound of it.

“No, no it’s okay.” Renjun says back. “I’ll come out now.”

Maybe he should just tell them. What’s the worst they could do to him, other than be so absolutely terrified of him that they move out of the complex as soon as possible, never to see him again?

Renjun cringes at the thought, but sighs in defeat. Wouldn’t be the first time.

After flushing the toilet and thoroughly washing his hands and mouth, Renjun takes a deep, somewhat calming breath, and opens the door.

If Renjun thought they only sounded worried, nothing could compare to the concerned puppy eyes they’re looking at him with right now. Renjun can almost see the dog ears flipped back towards their heads.

Mark speaks first. “How are you feeling?”

Renjun shrugs. “I’ve been worse.” Jeno’s shoulders droop, and Renjun can see the barest traces of a pout coming on.

“I am _so_ sorry.” Jeno says. “I should have been more careful when I was cooking, I—”

“It’s not your fault.” Renjun interrupts, because it really isn’t. “I actually…” He swallows.

“I actually have something...pretty important to tell you. It’ll explain everything.” Mark and Jeno look at each other with furrowed brows, before looking back at Renjun.

“If you’re comfortable with it.” Mark says. Jeno nods in agreement.

Renjun takes in a breath, and closes his eyes, preparing for the worst. Here goes nothing.

“I’m a vampire. That’s why—that’s why I threw up earlier. It’s not that it didn’t taste good, it tasted really good! It’s just that I can’t really...digest that stuff anymore.”

Renjun waits for something. Screaming. Horrified gasps. Maybe a punch to the gut. But nothing comes.

When he opens his eyes, Mark and Jeno look...way less terrified than he thought they’d be. Seriously, their mouths aren’t even open in shock. They still look a little taken aback, though, like they just had an epiphany.

“Ohhh...well why didn’t you say so!” Mark says. “Wow, that makes so much sense the more I think about it.”

What. “What?”

Jeno nods in agreement. “I feel kind of stupid now. We could’ve avoided all of this if we just figured it out sooner.”

“You’re not...scared of me?” Renjun asks, voice somewhere in between elated and confused.

Mark and Jeno share a look. They do that a lot—like they’re communicating telepathically.

“Renjun, we’re werewolves.” Mark says.

Renjun swears he can feel the second his brain stopped working, when the world stopped spinning, when everything started moving in slow motion because _oh my god it makes so much sense now_.

Their builds, their puppy-like eyes, the fact that Renjun’s been half imagining them with various dog appendages this whole time. Jeno didn’t have a hickey, it was a _mating mark_. They’re _mates_.

“Oh.” Renjun croaks out, currently physically and mentally incapable of saying much else.

Jeno clasps his hands together, a delighted smile on his face. “This is so great, we don’t know a lot of other non-humans other than our pack. And you’re right across from us too!”

Renjun thinks this over. He guesses it is kind of great—he doesn’t know much about werewolves but at least he doesn’t have to watch his every move around them in fear of getting a stake to the heart (anymore, at least. There was that whole vampire-werewolf rivalry in the late 1800s, but that’s all well and solved now).

Mark clears his throat. “Um, this is a lot to take in—for both of us—but if you wanted we could pick up where we left off? You don’t have to eat anything, we could just...talk.”

Renjun’s already surprised that this whole lunch hadn’t ended as epicly terribly as he thought it would, but he’s even more surprised that after all that, Mark and Jeno _still_ want to associate with him. Maybe angels (werewolf angels? Were-angels?) do exist after all.

Renjun offers a smile. “Talking sounds nice.”

. . .

Renjun isn’t nervous that Mark and Jeno are coming for movie night.

Renjun doesn’t _get_ nervous. Being immortal has desensitized him to almost all forms of uncertainty, as he’s lived through enough lifetimes to know that life is meaningless and that there’s nothing to fear, especially just a small gathering with friends. Friends that you’ve been crushing on for at least a month now even though they also happen to be dating each other, sure, but still just friends.

Or at least, that’s what he keeps telling himself as he vacuums every inch of his apartment, as he goes down to the store to get chips and soda because he has nothing in his fridge except blood packs, as he gets out the nice glasses from the cupboard, as he changes the arrangement of the flowers in his living room before undoing all those changes not even five minutes later, as he decides he wants to wear the silk pajama set he got in Paris all those years ago before he changes back into a t-shirt and sweats because now it looks like he’s trying too hard—

No, Renjun isn’t nervous at all.

Renjun’s giving the silk pajamas a second thought before he hears a knock on the door.

A quick look through the peephole shows him that it’s Mark and Jeno, and Renjun tries not to freak out because _oh my god they’re here they’re here_.

When he opens the door after at least thirty seconds of trying to calm himself down, he has to smile.

“Hi!” Mark and Jeno say in unison. Mark’s holding a pillow under his arm and what looks to be a package of microwave popcorn in his hand. Jeno’s next to him, clutching a neatly folded cinnamoroll blanket to his chest with both arms. Fitting, considering that Jeno is literally mirroring cinnamoroll’s smile, eyes closed and cutely curved into crescents.

Renjun’s eye twitches—he already feels like he’s going to explode and they literally just got here.

“Wow, your apartment’s so clean—oh! And you got snacks!” Jeno marvels as they step in through the threshold, his eyes zeroing in on the giant bag of Ruffles Renjun got for them. Renjun puffs up his chest a little at that—maybe putting all this work in was worth it after all.

“Speaking of, could I use your microwave for a sec?” Mark says, holding up his microwave popcorn.

Renjun smiles sheepishly. “Yeah, about that…I kinda don’t have a microwave?” The previous owners _did_ leave one when Renjun moved in, but Renjun sold that off a long time ago, having no use for it. Besides—it didn’t fit with the aesthetic of the kitchen.

Mark smacks his forehead. “Right. Vampire. It’s okay, chips are good too.”

“Or I could just run over to our place and make some?” Jeno suggests.

“You sure?” Mark asks, and Jeno nods. Renjun’s always admired that, the way Jeno will do pretty much anything for Mark without prompting, the way Mark asks if Jeno’s truly okay with it. He’s...jealous, but he’s not sure of who. Both, maybe?

“What movie are we watching, anyways?” Mark asks. “You never told us.”

“Oh!” Renjun exclaims, an excited twinkle in his eye. “We’re watching Avatar!”

“The shitty M. Night Shyamalan adaptation or the pretty blue people one?” Mark asks, the look in his eyes telling Renjun that if it’s the first he will be very, very disappointed in him. Thankfully, it’s not.

“The pretty blue people one. You’ll love it, trust me.” Renjun says.

Jeno starts making his way towards the door. “I’ll go get started on the popcorn, then. Don’t wait up for me! I’ll be back in,” he looks down at the package, “two and a half to three minutes, tops!”

The door shuts behind him with a click, ( _because Jeno’s so gentle he can’t even slam a door, oh my god,_ Renjun’s subconscious fills in for him), and then it’s just Mark and Renjun, sitting on the couch and waiting for the home screen to load.

It makes him a little more at ease, because now at least he can focus on panicking over one cute boy instead of two, but that also means that there’s one less person to fill in the silence when Renjun runs out of things to say.

“So, Avatar huh?” Mark asks as Renjun takes a sip of blood from his glass. “Why Avatar?”

Renjun grins, an excited twinkle in his eye. “It’s just the whole concept, y’know? It’ll be awhile before I see what the future looks like so it’s fun to imagine and theorize what it looks like in the meantime. Plus, the visuals are stellar. Everything’s so pretty and ethereal on Pandora.”

Mark mutters something under his breath, a tender little smile on his face.

“Sorry?” Renjun says, not quite catching it, though wishing he did.

Mark shakes his head. “It’s nothing. Oh! The home screen’s loaded. Let’s start.”

Renjun raises an eyebrow in suspicion, but clicks on the ‘Start Movie’ button obediently. Now he _really_ wants to know what he said.

Jeno chooses that moment to enter, a bag of nearly overflowing popcorn in hand. “Did I miss anything important?”

“Nope, just started. C’mere!” Mark opens up his arms, and Jeno, thankfully, puts the popcorn down on the coffee table before throwing himself into Mark’s embrace with an _oof_. Renjun has to smile, as are the normal side effects of being exposed to Mark and Jeno for a certain amount of time.

Renjun tries watching the movie, he really does—even if he has already seen it at least a hundred times—but his eyes just keep going to Mark and Jeno on the other side of the couch, all snuggled up together in their cinnamoroll blanket (he’s still not over that).

He nearly squeaks when he thinks he sees Jeno’s eyes dart towards him, and immediately looks back to the movie in fear of getting caught. Jake Sully’s about to go on his first exploration to Pandora, and Renjun should really by way more excited about it than he is right now, but he’s still watching them in the corner of his eye, watching how Jeno ignores the pillow he brought in favour of resting on Mark’s shoulder, watching how after a few moments, Mark leans on him as well.

Renjun reaches for his glass so he can hide his sigh, somewhere in between envious and ridiculously fond. He wonders just how much longer he can keep this up for, how much longer he can pretend he doesn’t want to be the person they lean on.

He’s in the middle of kicking himself for even _thinking_ about coming in between them when Jeno speaks.

“Renjun, would you like to cuddle with us?”

Renjun doesn’t know what happens, he just hears a shrill shattering sound and suddenly his hand is bleeding, his glass broken into a million pieces and on the floor.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Mark asks.

“I’m fine.” Renjun says, though he’s not sure he means it. “Sorry, I was just...surprised.” _Surprised is an understatement_ , he thinks.

“Here, we should clean your wounds, it looks like a pretty deep cut.” Jeno starts standing up, but Renjun stops him.

“It’s okay, you guys keep watching, let me just—” Renjun tiptoes towards his fridge, reaching for the first blood pack in front of him. After pulling the cap open with his teeth, he starts chugging, and he feels oddly proud when he hears Mark and Jeno gasp in awe as his hand heals before their eyes.

“Woah, I didn’t know vampires could do that.” Jeno says in amazement.

Renjun finishes off his blood pack with an _ahh_ , “yeah, though I’m not a hundred percent sure why it happens. I think it’s just because the life force kind of...rejuvenates me? Kinda like a reset button—hey! I told you guys to sit down and keep watching!”

Movie forgotten, Mark and Jeno have taken the liberty to start picking up the glass on the floor, cradling the mess with their hands. “Seriously guys, that’s dangerous.” Renjun says.

Mark rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “What kind of house guests would we be if we didn’t help out somehow?”

“Besides,” Jeno says, heading towards the nearest trash can to dump all the glass in, “you’re not the only ones with a reset button. See?”

There’s an array of small glass cuts on Jeno’s palm that Renjun would otherwise worry over and maybe try to kiss better if they weren’t slowly fading into nothingness.

“It doesn’t work quite as fast with deeper injuries, but for small stuff like this it’s pretty handy.” Jeno explains. Renjun pretends he doesn’t see Mark snort at the unintentional pun.

“Wait,” Renjun says, still not quite getting it. “so does that mean you guys are also immortal? Since you can basically heal all the bad stuff out of you.”

Mark puts his own collection of glass into the trash, before turning to Renjun. “Kind of? We’re not immortal, but werewolves can live for a pretty long time.”

“Yeah, so you’re basically stuck with us forever, Injunnie.” Jeno giggles, and Renjun’s stuck between freaking out about that and the fact that Jeno called him ‘Injunnie’. _Injunnie_.

When he comes back to functioning like a regular person Mark’s already found a broom to sweep all the glass up (how Mark found it despite this being the first time in his apartment, Renjun doesn’t know), Jeno kneeling in front of him with a dustpan. The movie’s still playing in the background, but Renjun doesn’t bother pausing it—they can just rewind it later, anyways.

And it’s at this moment, with Mark and Jeno softly bickering about if that’s a piece of glass that Mark missed or just a random sparkle, and Jake Sully fighting alongside the Na’vi to protect the Tree of Souls, that Renjun realizes just how much he likes them.

Fuck.

. . .

Renjun can already feel a headache coming on as soon as he sees the castle come into view from his window. His uber parks at the bottom of the steep hill that the castle resides on, because even after all these years Jaemin and Donghyuck never bothered to install a goddamn road, only a winding walking trail, because they’re difficult like that.

(“It makes it more mysterious that way,” Jaemin reasons. “Like that one scene in Edwards Scissorhands.

“Plus it’s good cardio!” Donghyuck adds, because the two are nothing if not feeders off each other’s energy. Literally. Feeding off of other vampires is kind of counterintuitive, but that doesn’t stop them from doing it anyways.)

After about twenty minutes of out of breath swearing and a slowly growing ache in his calves (because contrary to popular belief, vampires aren’t actually all that fast), Renjun finally makes it far enough to reach for the big bat-shaped knocker on the castle’s double door entrance.

“Gets tackier every time I see it.” Renjun mutters, and jumps when a hand comes to rest on his shoulder.

“Hey, we paid a lot of money to get that installed. Even more today if you count for inflation.” An annoyingly familiar voice says.

Renjun spins around, a glare on his face. “You dick, you scared me.”

“Awe, I missed you too, Junnie.” Jaemin croons in a mockingly sweet voice, high-pitched enough to make Renjun scrunch his nose in distaste. “I don’t even know why you bother knocking, you know it’s unlocked anyways.”

(It’s true. When asked why, Jaemin simply said “what kind of dumbass would try to steal from two vampires? At that point it’s just natural selection.”)

“Call it common courtesy.” Renjun says, watching with his hands in his pockets as Jaemin pulls open the big double doors.

“Babe! We have a guest.” Jaemin shouts, his voice bouncing off the stone walls. Renjun scans the room as he walks in. It hasn’t changed much—the same too high ceilings, the same chandelier in every room (how anyone could get up there to clean it, Renjun has no idea), the same purple carpet leading up to the big staircase in the center. Though he does notice that a very old and very _expensive_ vase isn’t in the middle of the room anymore. He’ll have to ask about that.

Donghyuck comes down the staircase with sluggish steps and a yawn, red silk robe and all. Renjun rolls his eyes, but he’s kind of impressed—even when he’s just woken up he still manages to look opulent. Jaemin’s by his side immediately with a hand on his waist and a kiss to his temple, like magnets sticking together when they’re close enough to each other.

“Renjunnie, why are you here so early in the morning?” Donghyuck huffs, before the sentence cuts off into another yawn.

“It’s four in the afternoon, Donghyuck.” Renjun deadpans.

Donghyuck waves a hand. “It’s the early morning somewhere. Anyways, why are you here? Not that we don’t treasure your presence and all that, but it’s not like you to show up without telling us.”

Renjun purses his lips. “I need some advice.”

“Oooh,” Jaemin says, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, and Renjun sighs. Nothing good ever comes from that twinkle. “Love advice?”

Renjun doesn’t say anything, but both Jaemin and Donghyuck are already pushing him towards the living room with bright, excited eyes, Jaemin ushering a cup of tea into his hands.

“Sit down, child, tell us what’s wrong.” Donghyuck croons, like a mother would to her distressed son.

“I’m literally older than both of you.”

“Shhh,” Jaemin says, and Renjun grimaces—he’s using his kindergarten voice on him, that bastard. “This isn’t about us, this about _you._ ”

“God, I hate you guys.” Renjun mutters, but acquiesces and sits down on the loveseat.

“I…” Renjun swallows. “I like two people. Like, a lot.”

“Wow,” Jaemin marvels, “usually we have to break you down more for you to admit something like that.”

“Oh, this is so exciting!” Donghyuck exclaims, just on the edge of a squeal. “You must really have it bad. Do they know?”

“That’s the thing,” Renjun sighs. “They’re mates.”

There’s a beat of silence. A second beat. A third, and Renjun is starting to squirm in his seat.

“Like, werewolf mates?” Jaemin whispers, like he’s not sure he should be saying it.

“They have mating marks and everything.” Renjun mutters. “Which is why this whole thing is giving me a headache.” As if on cue, he starts to feel a dull throbbing at the side of his head.

“Drink your tea, it’ll calm you down.” Jaemin orders, and Renjun obeys.

“Why don’t you just try talking to them?” Donghyuck asks as Renjun takes another sip, because that really did make him feel better.

Renjun laughs bitterly. “Yeah, right. Could you imagine? ‘I know you have an unbreakable bond between you two that literally signifies your love and devotion for each other but I’m going to come in between that because I really like you.’ They’d hate me.”

“So what are you going to do then?” Donghyuck asks.

Renjun looks down at his tea cup, feeling defeated.

“I don’t know.”

. . .

Renjun hates hunting.

Maybe a few decades ago he would be okay with it (mostly because back then he didn’t really have a choice—it was either suck the life out of people or die), but nowadays, the thought of actively seeking out some nameless stranger, luring them somewhere dark and secluded, taking something so vital to them and leaving them weak and defenceless...it makes him feel unsettled. Icky, if you will.

Tonight, though—tonight is different.

His blood packs didn’t come in yesterday. Or today. Or when they were supposed to come, which was last week. Apparently there was a postal issue and now his only sustenance for the next few weeks is lost in some nameless warehouse, never to be seen again. He’s already got another package coming, and he can definitely survive a couple days without blood, but it’s the cravings that really get him, eat him up inside and make him a tad too feral, too dangerous.

It’s why he’s here right now, at the seediest nightclub in town.

It’s a Friday, which is movie night, he knows, but he couldn’t hold off his cravings any longer. Thankfully, he told Mark and Jeno about it, they were generously understanding, telling him that they could just have a date night instead. Renjun pretended that that last part didn’t sting as much as it did.

The one good thing about cravings is that they heighten his senses by tenfold, so he can practically smell the alcohol in people’s veins as he drifts through the dance floor. In other words: he can smell who’s drunk enough to not remember being bitten by a vampire the next morning.

Renjun kind of just wants to get this over with so he can go home and watch Avatar for the upteenth time, but he does admit that it was nice to dress up for the occasion. With his smokey eyeshadow, styled up hair, and jeans with too many rips to count, he’s sure he’ll have no problem finding prey to munch on for the night.

In fact, he thinks he sees one right now.

Renjun makes eye contact with red cheeks, dark eyes, and a sharp, charming smile. Usually he’d be more picky, maybe pick out someone that looks drunker, but it’s late, he’s thirsty, and he wants to get this over with as fast as possible, so Renjun pins on his sultriest smile and gestures a thumb to the back entrance of the club.

They don’t kiss, but Renjun rarely ever does that anyways. All he has to do is look up with hooded eyes, pretend to like it when the man pins him to the bricks, even if it hurts, lean in close to his neck, and then...

The man chuckles darkly. “I still can’t believe you’re this stupid.” Renjun’s brows raise.

“What?” He asks, before it’s cut off with a choked up gasp.

The first thing he registers is pain. The kind that lights his nerves on fire and spreads through every inch of his body, leaving him trembling, the shock rendering him unable to move, unable to speak. The second thing he registers is the wooden stake in his chest, blood slowly trickling down his shirt and dripping onto the concrete.

“Really, how could you not notice you’ve been with a vampire slayer this whole night? Are you still a fledgeling, is that why? I refuse to believe an older vampire could be so gullible.” He grins, sharp and charming and suddenly extremely irritating.

 _Great, now he’s murdering me_ and _bruising my ego_. Renjun thinks bitterly. The shock is over now, though the pain is still there, dancing along his nerves with heavy, powerful steps, but more than anything, Renjun just feels plain annoyed.

“You talk big for someone on your knees.” Renjun manages to voice, though shaky.

“The fuck does that mean—” The sentence is cut off with a pained groan as Renjun promptly kicks him in the groin, the man’s knees hitting the concrete.

“By the way, you missed.” Renjun adds, smirking. He’s breathing way too hard to be normal, but he ignores that for now. “Too far to the left. I’ll commend you for trying, though.”

He pretends he doesn’t already know what’ll happen to him anyways. Regardless of where the stake landed, he’s still weak. Without a supply of blood, he’ll eventually bleed out, dying a slow, painful death.

Renjun doesn’t expect it when the man pulls the stake out of his chest with a particularly worrying squelch, and suddenly it hurts _so_ much more, like someone’s trying to rip his soul out of his body, his body on pins and needles, and _oh god,_ he’s losing the feeling in his legs, sliding down, down, down—

“This time, I won’t miss.” Renjun hears. He wants to laugh, but his body’s too weak for that, so he closes his eyes instead. He never really thought about how he would die, if he ever did, but he didn’t expect this—behind a stupid club he didn’t really want to go to anyways, at the hands of some lousy slayer that can’t even do his job right, starving, tired, and in a one-sided love with his werewolf neighbours. _If only they could see him now..._

Renjun waits for the finishing blow, the pain, and then hopefully the numbness after, but nothing happens. He opens one eye, slowly, carefully, and is fully unprepared to see the slayer nowhere to be found and Jeno standing in front of him instead, a hand over his mouth and his pupils shaking.

Renjun tries opening his mouth to say something, anything, but nothing comes out. He doesn’t have to, though, because Jeno is by his side in a flash, cradling him in his arms and whispering comforting words, telling him that _it’s going to be okay, you’re going to be okay._

Or at least, that’s what Renjun thinks he says, he’s not sure. Everything looks kind of fuzzy right now, like the world’s been put through a filter, sounds becoming muffled and barely audible. Is his body shutting down? It’s been a long time since that’s happened.

Jeno gently pulls him to sit up, and it’s from this angle that Renjun can finally make out the massive grey wolf towering over the slayer’s trembling form, it’s teeth bared into a nasty snarl as it growls down at him.

“Mark, remember, we’re not murdering him. Renjun’s more important right now.” Jeno chides. The wolf— _Mark?_ —growls in protest, but seems to be acquiescing. Or at least, that’s what Renjun thinks until Mark (he still can’t believe _that’s_ Mark) opens his jaw to let out a particularly spit-flying, back-of-the-throat, soul-shattering howl, right into the slayer’s face. The slayer stops moving, and Renjun can only assume he either fainted or died of shock. Hopefully the second one.

It starts getting even hazier from there. There’s a ringing in his ears that just keeps building and building, and Renjun really wants to know what Jeno’s saying to him, why he’s smiling so fondly, but then Jeno’s shoving Renjun’s face into his neck and Renjun can’t control himself, he has to, _he has to_.

Renjun sinks his fangs into Jeno’s neck, the last thing he registers being Mark’s snout bumping against his shoulder, Jeno’s pained gasp, and the sweet, sweet taste of blood.

. . .

Renjun wakes up with different clothes on, a headache, and a start.

It takes him a minute to realize he’s back in his bedroom, and suddenly all of last night comes rushing back to him like some kind of terrible television recap. “And that’s what you missed on The Universe Hates You!”

He remembers the stake in his chest (when he looks down his shirt to check, there’s thankfully nothing there, not even a scar). He remembers Mark and his uncharacteristically terrifying wolf form. He remembers Jeno pushing his face into his neck, his hands clutching at his shirt, and most, possibly worst of all, the fact that Jeno’s blood tastes really, _really_ good.

Human blood tastes okay, mostly just iron and sometimes alcohol depending on who he’s feeding from. Prepackaged blood tastes slightly more artificial, but it gets the job done. But _non-human blood_ , now that’s a different story. And Jeno’s blood especially—Renjun finds himself salivating the more he thinks about it, just how sweet it was, though he couldn’t quite pin down what it reminded him of. Maybe if he could taste it again—

 _No_. Renjun thinks. _No no no no no, absolutely not. You’ve taken advantage of him, of_ them _, enough_.

It takes a minute for Renjun to get out of bed, even longer to get ready for the day (he finds his shirt from yesterday neatly folded on his dresser, a sticky note with a very Jeno-esque smiley emoticon tacked on the fabric, and that just makes him feel even shitter) and actually feel like he’s functional enough to be a member of society again.

He opens his front door with a sigh, feeling very much in need for a long, _long_ walk, until he realizes that the door across from him is open too.

Mark is there with wide, surprised eyes, one hand on the door and the other laying limp by his side. For a second Renjun doesn’t move, _can’t_ move as he watches Jeno step into view and ask what Mark’s doing before he sees him too, and now they’re all silent.

Renjun has a lot he wants to say. _I’m sorry. Please don’t hate me. But if you do I completely understand, what I did was shitty. Is your neck okay? Are_ you _okay? I’m sorry._

But then he notices that Jeno is wearing a turtleneck today, when it’s very clearly summer, and suddenly he’s not emotionally stable enough to handle any of this.

“Renju—” Mark starts, but Renjun doesn’t hear anything beyond the sound of him closing the door with a slam.

. . .

Renjun tries taking a slightly different approach this time. It’s been a couple days of staying inside for everything except picking up packages from the postal office (“because you’re too emotionally constipated to healthily deal with your problems” he can hear both Jaemin and Donghyuck scold, because they’re menaces like that), and Renjun’s this close to getting cabin fever. He needs to go out.

It’s just after 5 am in the morning when Renjun opens his front door. Even the sight of the golden ‘520’ across the hall makes him feel paranoid, like at any moment now Mark and Jeno will come through the door to tell him how much they hate him, so he locks his door as fast as possible and books it to the elevators.

He’s in the lobby, sighing in relief because he managed to make it the whole way down without a hitch, when he sees Jeno just beyond the front entrance.

Renjun scrambles to the nearest corner he can find, nearly trembling because _how the fuck is Jeno here at 5 in the fucking morning_ and _oh why does the universe hate me so_. And yet, he can’t stop himself from peeking behind the wall. Y’know, just to check on how he’s doing.

It seems that Renjun’s bite mark has healed nicely, now just two small reddish dots on the side of his neck, and Renjun feels somewhere in between relieved and extremely guilty.

Jeno also looks way too ridiculously good for someone awake at 5 am, all rosy-cheeked and glowing. It seems he just went out on an early morning bike ride, and Renjun can’t really describe the emotion he feels as he watches Jeno unclip his helmet and shake his sweaty hair around, his sleeveless shirt flashing his tan lines from time to time other than _oh no he’s hot_.

Renjun doesn’t realize that he’s _still_ watching Jeno be Jeno (because he’s an idiot) until Jeno starts coming through the front entrance and they make eye contact. Oh no.

Renjun hides behind the wall so fast he swears he got whiplash, but it’s too late.

“Renjun? Are you...spying on me?” Jeno asks from beyond the wall.. Renjun closes his eyes, glad that Jeno can’t see just how embarrassed he is.

“...No?” Renjun tries. “I was just...watching for my Uber Eats delivery?”

“Renjun, that was the literally the worst lie you could’ve come up with.” Jeno’s voice is getting increasingly louder, and Renjun can see Jeno in the corner of his eye now, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. A part of him really missed seeing him, but the other part is physically unable to make eye contact with him in fear of spontaneously combusting.

“Um, I actually really wanted to talk to you about what happened last week, both Mark and I do, so if you want we could—” Nope, nope, nope-ity nope nope. Renjun can’t do this right now.

“Hey, I think that’s my Uber Eats delivery running away with my food! I should go catch him!” Renjun says, a little crazed, and makes a run for it.

“Renjun! Wait!” Jeno shouts, but Renjun’s already across the road, only narrowingly avoiding traffic as he runs towards the other side.

It’s good that Renjun didn’t see Jeno’s sad puppy eyes after he left, because that would’ve broken him right then and there.

. . .

“Renjun, it’s been three days now. You sure you don’t want to go back yet?” Jaemin asks, leaning against the door frame.

After that little stunt with Jeno, Renjun decided that instead of eventually going back to his place and potentially running into Mark or Jeno (or even worse—both of them), he’s going to hide away in Donghyuck and Jaemin’s castle. Just for the time being—they owe him a couple favours, anyways.

It’s not all that pleasant, even though hanging out with them all hours of the day is kinda fun sometimes, but he can tell that they’re worried about him, that it’s going to only be a matter of time until they kick him out. It’s only a countdown until when.

Renjun sighs into his comforter. He’s been spending a lot of time in the guest room that Jaemin and Donghyuck prepared for him, mostly just napping. Thinking. And then napping some more—sometimes paired with terribly overexaggerated nightmares of what will happen when Mark and Jeno do finally corner him. He shivers just thinking about it.

“Just...not yet, okay? I’ll come back soon, just...not today.” Renjun says. Jaemin nods understandingly.

“Well,” he says, a solemn smile on his face. “We’ll support you wholeheartedly when you do.”

Renjun smiles back at him. “Thanks, Jaemin. For everything.”

Jaemin smiles wider, before moving to walk away, and Renjun takes that as his cue to start going back to staring at the wall and thinking.

“Oh, by the way,” Jaemin says, popping his head out from the doorway. “You might wanna put some earplugs in. The walls in here are kinda thin.”

“Oh, gross!” Renjun shouts, throwing a pillow at him, but Jaemin’s already down the hall, cackling.

. . .

He should’ve known it wouldn’t last forever.

Donghyuck and Jaemin eventually kicked him out, saying that “this has gone on for long enough” and that he “needs to put on his big boy pants and step the fuck up”.

And yeah, Renjun agrees with them now. This has gone on for way too long, and living with Donghyuck and Jaemin with way too much knowledge on their, ahem, “nightly activities” and no Mark and Jeno for a week has shown him that. He, at the very least, just wants to see them again.

He just didn’t expect it to be this soon.

Seeing Mark and Jeno again after he spends a day planning how he wants to give his heartfelt apology is fine. Seeing Mark and Jeno again coming out of their door right as Renjun is trying to get to his own, just after he just managed to somewhat get his shit together is—well, his fight or flight response got activated...and he chose flight.

So that’s why he’s currently running as fast as he can down the fire escape, two very strong, very fast, possibly very angry wolf boys on his tail. He honestly doesn’t know why he thought this would even work, because they catch up to him embarrassingly quickly, and suddenly Mark’s pinning Renjun to the wall by his shoulders.

“Stop running away, please!” Mark says. Mark and Jeno look less mad and more...frustrated. Renjun figures he definitely deserves the stab of guilt that runs through him.

And so, like any other normal person who spent the past few weeks boxing up his problems and throwing away the key, he lays out all of his dirty laundry with all the grace and subtlety of a giant splash bucket at a waterpark.

“I’m so sorry for everything these past few weeks especially biting Jeno’s neck and taking advantage of you like that but also for avoiding all of you for the past few weeks I’ve been a dick an ugly wrinkly dick and I totally understand if you want to disassociate with me after today and never want to talk to me again especially because I really really like the both of you god I’m such a shitty person I’m so sorry for getting you involved in this mess—”

“Wait, woah, breathe,” Jeno says, and Renjun takes in a deep, well-needed breath as Mark’s touch turns more less harsh, more comforting. “What was that last part?”

“Um,” Renjun tries sorting through his word vomit. “I’m sorry for getting you involved in this mess?”

“No, not that.” Mark says. They’re...blushing? For some reason? “Before that.”

“I’m such a shitty person?” Renjun tries. “Or did you mean—oh.” _Oh._

“You like us?” Jeno asks, soundly oddly hopeful. “Both of us?”

“I know,” Renjun says. “I know, it’s stupid, because you guys are mates already, who am I to try and come in between that—”

“What do us being mates have to do with it?” Mark asks with furrowed eyebrows.

“Because! You guys are supposed to be together for life! You _are_ going to be together for life! I can’t try to come in between that just because I think you’re both cute and funny and shit, isn’t that against, like, the werewolf code?”

A wave of silence washes over them, Renjun feeling increasingly more awkward with each second that passes by, when Jeno opens his mouth to speak.

“Oh my god,” Jeno says slowly, a disbelieving smile on his face. “you’re so dumb?”

Renjun blinks. “Um, what?”

Mark starts laughing then, and Renjun feels like there’s something he’s missing out on.

“You—” Mark starts, before breaking into another fit of giggles. “Us being mates doesn’t mean we can’t also date you, y’know.”

Renjun blinks again. “What?”

“That’s not really how it works,” Jeno says. “We won’t be committing any magical werewolf crimes just because we seek out a third person to date. It’s a little unorthodox, sure, but we’d still be dating and being mates, we’d just also be dating _you_.”

To say that Renjun feels, quote unquote “so dumb”, is an understatement. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” Mark chuckles. “I can’t believe you went through all that trouble just because you thought the werewolf gods wouldn’t allow us to be together.”

“Wait, so you like me back too?” Renjun asks, still not quite getting it. Mark and Jeno sigh.

“Obviously.” Jeno says. “Why do you think we wanted you to hang out with us so often?”

“But—but,” Renjun says, feeling like he’s about to have a breakdown all over again. “I sucked your blood, back at the club! You guys put yourself in danger for me! I took advantage of you!”

“Renjun. You were dying.” Jeno deadpans, a tone that Renjun isn’t used to hearing from him.

“Besides, it wasn’t really…” Jeno rubs the back of his neck, an embarrassed blush on his face. “it wasn’t like it was unpleasant.”

“Well, then I—” Renjun says, but nothing else comes out. He’s exhausted all his arguments. He sighs, his shoulders sagging. “I’m really sorry. For all of this.”

“It’s okay,” Mark says. “I know how you can make it up to us.”

“How?” Renjun asks, and watches with mild fear as Jeno whispers something into Mark’s ear.

“Well, for starters, you can take us on a date.” Mark says. “Somewhere that’s not our apartments, we’ve spent enough time in those already.”

Renjun nods. “Done.”

“And…” Mark looks towards Jeno, and Jeno nods reassuringly. “Can I kiss you?”

If Renjun could blush, he’d be on fire right now. “Oh. O-okay.” He croaks.

Kissing Mark is like kissing a blanket right out of the dryer, Renjun finds. He’s _so_ warm, and Renjun can’t tell if that’s because it’s another werewolf thing or if he’s just as emotionally charged as he is. It’s the kind of kiss that makes Renjun feel comforted, sighing into it as he puts his arms around Mark’s shoulders.

Renjun pulls away, only because he can feel Jeno’s hands coming to rest on his waist in a silent question—because he’s kind of curious about it as well.

Kissing Jeno is somehow more electric, but just as warm. He’s a very eager kisser, practically turning him to mush, his legs trembling. There’s a moment when Jeno squeezes Renjun’s waist a little tighter and Renjun, surprised, bites his lip on impulse, the taste of blood filling his mouth.

“W-wait,” Renjun pants, pulling away. “Are we really going to make out in a fire escape?”

Mark and Jeno look at each other, and Renjun can tell they’re doing their weird telepathic thing again because they share a mischievous twinkle in their eyes.

Before Renjun knows it, he’s being lifted up into a princess carry, Mark carrying his back with one hand as Jeno holds onto his legs, the both of them carrying him up the fire escape.

“What the fuck!” Renjun yelps, his little feet kicking out in protest. “Put me down! Where are we going?”

“We’re going back to our place.” Jeno says, a way too innocent smile on his face. “So we can make out, away from the fire escape.”

“And so you can bite me.” Mark adds. There’s a beat of silence as Renjun and Jeno look at him incredulously.

“What? I want to try it too!” He huffs. “Is that okay with you, Renjun?”

Renjun tries very hard not to pretend that he’s not salivating at the thought, but he’s not sure that it’s working. “Completely okay.”

. . .

“Woah,” Jeno marvels as they walk into the castle. “It’s so big!”

From Renjun’s other side, Mark snorts and mutters a “that’s what she said” under his breath, and Renjun makes sure to elbow his side in Jeno’s honour.

“Welcome to our esteemed guests!” Donghyuck announces from the top of the stairs. “...and Renjun.”

Renjun rolls his eyes. “Ha-ha. Very funny. Where’s Jaemin?”

“He’s down in the kitchen. Cooking’s been somewhat of a stress reliever for him, so he’s really excited to finally have people to try his food.” Donghyuck explains.

“What’s he making?” Mark asks.

Donghyuck shrugs. “Not sure, he had a whole list of things he wanted to make you. Go sit down first, he’ll be out in a second.”

It takes a couple minutes, but eventually Jaemin comes to the living room, slowly wheeling a rather overstuffed table of food towards them, from soups, to desserts, to a goddamn smoked ham.

“That is—that is a lot.” Renjun says, not really sure how else to describe it. “What are you guys going to do if there’s leftovers?”

“Er,” Jaemin starts. “I was kind of hoping your wolf boys could eat it? You guys eat a lot, don’t you?”

Renjun tries very hard to not feel pleased at the “your wolf boys” part, and instead looks to them (his wolf boys!) expectantly.

“Um,” Mark says, scratching his head. “We’ll...try? Maybe we could bring some of it home with us.”

“Excellent!” Jaemin says. “Without further ado, let the Friday Movie Night begin!”

“You guys gotta stop announcing things like that. We’re not in the 1800s anymore.” Renjun chides.

“But it’s fun!” Donghyuck and Jaemin pout.

“Renjun.” Jaemin says.

“Yeah?” Renjun says, in the middle of watching Mark feed Jeno chocolate cake. Fuck the Twilight saga, this is much more interesting.

“Do you really have to sit on _both_ of their laps?” Jaemin asks.

“Yes.” The three of them say in unison.

“Besides,” Renjun says, a little fond. “This way I can kiss either of them whenever I want.” As if to demonstrate, he kisses either of them on the cheek. He still can’t believe he can do that now.

“Yikes, you weren’t even this clingy when he dated.” Jaemin says. Mark and Jeno sit up in surprise, Renjun being jostled in the process.

“ _What?_ ” They exclaim, and Renjun makes sure to glare pointedly at Jaemin’s shit-eating grin. Donghyuck doesn’t look fazed, but Renjun can tell he’s hiding his smile into his tea.

“You two dated?” Mark asks. “And you’re all still friends?”

Renjun shrugs, sheepish. “It was decades ago. Besides, it’s kind of hard to hold grudges when you’re immortal. It gets tiring at one point.”

“Oh,” Jeno says, managing to somehow blink adorably. “That...makes sense.”

They settle down then, and Renjun’s just about to join them in relief when Donghyuck just has to open his big, diabolical mouth.

“Oh boy, just wait until you tell them about the time _we_ dated.” Donghyuck mutters.

There’s a pause.

 _“What?!”_ Mark, Jeno, and for some reason Jaemin exclaims.

“Donghyuck!” Renjun huffs.

“Oops, did I say that out loud?”

**Author's Note:**

> Jaemin: you guys dated and you didn't tell me?!  
> Renjun: it was for like 3 weeks! Tops!
> 
> [twt](https://mobile.twitter.com/renjunethereal)
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/renjunethereal)


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